GBI Role is at the Local Level, Helping HBAs Establish Green Building Programs

Since its inception in 2004, the GBI has worked with 29 local and state home builder associations to develop and populate locally relevant green building programs. These programs, which have helped to accelerate the adoption of green building practices in markets such as Las Vegas, St. Louis, Dallas and Albuquerque, have resulted in the assessment of more than 200 green homes—and an additional 28,000 are at various stages in the process.

With the launch of the new NAHB National Green Building Program, the GBI is expanding its free education and marketing services to provide even more support to HBAs and their builder members—by helping them adopt this exciting new program or develop their own local initiatives.

In addition to marketing collateral, public relations and administrative support for local green building programs, GBI now also provides the following resources free of charge:

Virtual Training – Working in partnership with Building Media Inc. and construction specialist Steve Easley, the GBI has developed a virtual green building training program that HBAs can make available to builders via their own Web sites.

The program features training modules that reflect the areas of assessment in the NAHB Green Building Standard (e.g., energy efficiency, resource use and water efficiency). Each module features a video presentation, corresponding slide show, study guide and quiz, which allows viewers to test their comprehension of the material.

This exciting tool provides a unique opportunity for mainstream builders to expand their knowledge and should prove invaluable to busy professionals looking to build green.

DSIRE Database – A database of green building rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives available, both federally and by state, is now part of the GBI Web site. It was developed by the GBI in partnership with the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) and North Carolina State University.

ATHENA® EcoCalculator for Assemblies – GBI also offers access to the ATHENA® EcoCalculator for Assemblies, a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool developed by the ATHENA Institute in consultation with the University of Minnesota Center for Sustainable Building Research and Morrison Hershfield Consulting Engineers.

Widely recognized as one of the best ways to evaluate building sustainability, LCA considers materials over the course of their entire lives, from extraction and processing through manufacturing, transportation, use, maintenance and disposal or recycling. It takes into account a full range of environmental impact indicators—such as embodied energy, global warming potential, air pollution, water pollution and solid waste—and provides a common basis for comparing alternate designs.

The EcoCalculator provides instant LCA results for hundreds of common building assemblies in the following categories: exterior walls, roofs, intermediate floors, interior walls, windows, and columns and beams.

Coming Soon

GBI is also working to develop the following materials and services for use by our partner HBAs:

• Research reports by leading university researchers
• We’re currently working to quantify the costs associated with sustainable construction practices as well as the potential ROI
• Case studies
• Green Home Owners Manual

HBAs interested in partnering with the GBI to develop locally relevant green building programs are invited to contact Kelly O’Brien at Kelly@thegbi.org.